


and then there was one

by inbetweencabs



Category: Adam Lambert (Musician), Kris Allen (Musician)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-14
Updated: 2011-08-14
Packaged: 2017-10-22 14:53:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/239252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inbetweencabs/pseuds/inbetweencabs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where there are seahorses, a grumpy sea cucumber and clueless boys</p>
            </blockquote>





	and then there was one

**Author's Note:**

  * For [peacockcock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/peacockcock/gifts).



> kristina_bitch wanted a seahorse fic for her birthday. She's awesome so I thought she deserved one.

Kris never really imagined that he would, one day, own a seahorse. His Aunt Florence thought he should though, as she looked pretty pleased with herself when she took Kris to the city aquarium on his sixteenth birthday and told him that he was now the parent of the seahorse Albert, who was on the “Adopt a Sea Animal” program.

Albert was a shy seahorse; he stayed hidden behind a flimsy wall of seaweeds and a couple of clown fishes when Kris met him for the first time. Not that Kris could blame him. After all, meeting a foster parent for the first time could be intimidating especially if said foster parent really did look shocked, complete with gaping mouth and wide, crazy eyes.

But Kris worked hard to be there for Albert. He visited Albert everyday after school, talking to him from behind the glass walls of the aquarium. As the months went on, Albert became less withdrawn until one day, when Kris found him showing off right in front of a crowd of delighted school children, shyly waving his tail back and forth.

So it was a total surprise when Kris came in, and saw Albert staying behind the seaweeds again, his tail barely visible. He was looking across the aquarium where _all_ the fishes have flocked together; even the grumpy sea cucumber Vincent looked pretty excited even if he was just skittering around the corals, trying his best to look uninterested but failing.

And that was when Kris saw him for the first time, the bluish gray _beautiful_ seahorse named Bowie. Kris found out that Bowie actually came from an aquarium in Sydney, and that he found a parent soon after he was shipped in. That wasn’t surprising as Bowie was indeed a gorgeous seahorse.

At first, Kris thought Albert was just being territorial and that was why he was pretty much ignoring Bowie. Albert was the only seahorse in this particular aquarium for quite a while, after all. But Kris quickly noted that Albert’s tail swished a little more than normal when Bowie was nearby. Kris got the confirmation he needed when Albert actually did a little twisting motion (Kris wasn’t imagining it, OK?) when Bowie accidentally brushed by him.

His Albert was in love.

Which wasn’t a problem in itself, as Bowie and Albert seemed to be getting to know each other as the days went by. Kris saw them sitting by the corals sometimes, and Albert seemed to become more outgoing; he even started swimming with the hyper clown fishes around the tank.

But everything changed when another seahorse named Jake arrived. Jake was a bit glittery like Bowie himself (although he didn’t sparkle the way that Bowie did – blinding and awesome) and he came from Sydney too. Jake always trailed after Bowie, and Albert started to hide in his corner behind the seaweeds again or sit beside Vincent, somehow managing to look as grumpy.

One afternoon, Kris managed to coax Albert to approach him. There weren’t a lot of people around so Kris sat on the floor with his legs crossed under him, his face just a few inches away from the glass. Albert was floating around, his big round eyes looking at Kris helplessly.

Kris sighed. From the opposite side of the aquarium, Bowie was swimming around Vincent followed by a trail of fishes as Jake floated beside him.

Kris whispered, “I’m not even gonna lie to you, man. I can see why you fell in love with him.”

Albert inclined his head a little, looking mournful.

“And it probably didn’t help that he had an accent.”

Albert turned his back on Kris.

“Hey, don’t be like that. Come on, Albert…” Kris laid his hand flat on the glass, his face almost touching it.

Albert ignored him and just went to hide in his corner, wrapping himself in seaweed. Kris remained seated on the floor and he could actually feel himself pouting as he waited for Albert to come out again.

A few minutes later, Kris saw Bowie swim away from his adoring followers and towards the glass. Bowie’s tail was swishing back and forth, showing how excited he really was. He was floating as close as possible to the glass; when the overhead light hit him, Kris thought he just sparkled with delight.

“Oh hi there, honey. Look how pretty you are.”

The cooing voice made Kris turn to his right and he found himself looking at Adam Lambert.

Kris was a little bit in love with Adam. He sat behind Adam in their history class and his friends always teased him that he actually had heart eyes while he stared at the back of Adam’s head. Whatever, Adam had awesome hair and Kris always drowned out Mrs. Martin’s monotone by daydreaming that he was running his fingers through it.

Not that he had any chance with Adam. Adam was beautiful and articulate and so talented (that _voice_ ), and though Kris knew that he wasn’t pretty bad himself, they were really too different to actually be friends. In fact, Adam never really spoke to Kris – that time when Kris _accidentally_ dropped his pencil beside Adam’s boot totally didn’t count. Adam sometimes looked at him funny though, and Kris always ducked his head and tried to blend in with the crowd, knowing that Adam probably thought he was pretty weird for wearing the same shirt to school so many times. (He was in love with that Beatles shirt and he was going to damn well wear it until it was falling apart at the seams.)

Adam was still talking to Bowie, and Kris realized that he was probably Bowie’s owner if the way he spoke and cooed and fussed was any indication. He didn’t realize he was staring until Adam turned to him and smiled.

“Oh. Hi,” Adam waved weakly at him. Kris realized that he probably looked like a crazy stalker with the way he was staring.

Kris opened his mouth to say something that wouldn’t make him look like a bumbling idiot, but Brad, the new – and Kris noted, very well-groomed and who definitely didn’t look like a hobo –kid from Texas appeared beside Adam.

Kris clamped his mouth shut and stared at the aquarium instead. He could hear Adam tell Brad about Bowie, how he got him for his birthday and how he was the coolest seahorse in the world. Brad smiled and nodded and made random comments that made Adam laugh. Kris tried not to look, but he could see their reflection on the glass, and how pretty they looked together.

Kris turned to look at Albert, biting his lip as he tried not to stare at Adam and Brad again. After a few minutes, he heard them leave to meet Tommy and Danielle at the Starbucks beside the aquarium. As soon as they were gone, Albert was swimming from behind the seaweeds, only stopping when he was floating in front of Kris’s face.

“Yeah well, we’re kind of pathetic,” he muttered as Albert slightly curled his tail.

“Did you see Adam? He’s kind of amazing, right? You’d understand, I mean, you fell in love with Bowie…” Kris abruptly stopped when Albert quickly moved closer to the glass. “Oh right, sorry. Geez, Bowie’s right over there behind the corals, man. I don’t think he heard me.”

Albert started to turn away so Kris said, “OK, not going to happen again, I promise.” Albert faced him again so Kris spoke softly, “so yeah, you have to do your best and not let Jake steal your boy. One of us should be with the guy we like.” Kris moved his face closer to the glass. “You have a better chance. You’re practically living together, come on.”

Kris didn’t know what happened but he was pretty surprised when he went to the aquarium the next day and saw that Albert was floating beside Bowie. Albert was slightly glowing too, his yellowish color being highlighted by the overhead lights. Kris found himself smiling as he tracked Bowie and Albert’s progress as they swam around the aquarium.

“They look good together. That’s your Albert swimming with my Bowie, right? I asked around.”

Kris almost jumped in surprise when Adam spoke behind him. He turned and blushed when he saw how close Adam was standing to him, so close that he could actually smell Adam’s cologne. That didn’t make his palms sweat a little, nope, not at all.

Kris cleared his throat, determined to talk to Adam even if his face probably looked like it was burning. If Albert could make a move on Bowie, then he could at least try and say an entire sentence to Adam. “Um, yeah. And they’re cute. Right.” Well, _that_ worked, Kris thought as he gave himself a virtual side eye.

Adam’s face broke into a wide grin and his eyes were sparkling when he looked at Kris. “You’re talking to me! Hi, I’m Adam. And you’re Kris!”

“Hi, and um, I know who you are,” Kris muttered. He probably looked as confused as he felt because Adam blushed and shook his head.

“It’s just that you’ve sat behind me at Mrs. Martin’s history class all year, and you haven’t said a word to me. Well, except for that time when you dropped your pencil and I almost stepped on it.” Adam then clasped his hand over his mouth and groaned. “Fuck, you probably think I’m a creep. You probably don’t even remember that. Shit, why do I talk too much?”

Kris just stood there, gaping at Adam, who was looking at the floor. Kris was dreaming – there was no other explanation for every word that Kris heard from Adam’s mouth. He did not dare hope; Adam was just friendly to everyone so it would make sense that he’d be the same to Kris too.

“You don’t talk too much,” Kris found himself saying, his hand rubbing the back of his neck nervously. That made Adam look up, his blue eyes wary. “Ummm, I didn’t mean anything by that… not talking to you, I mean. It’s just that you’re always with someone so… I don’t know, yeah.”

Adam opened his mouth to say something but then Brad came in with Danielle, and Adam turned away from Kris to smile at them. They talked about their plans for Tommy’s party (which everyone at school knew about, not that Kris was invited or anything) and Kris found himself standing awkwardly, his hands in his pockets.

Kris started to step away from the group, not wanting to interrupt, disappointment filling him as he figured that Adam would be leaving soon. But he had barely turned his back when Adam grabbed his arm to keep him close. Kris's heart was beating furiously when Adam smiled at him, and he couldn’t help but smile back.

He was pretty surprised when Adam said, “Guys, this is Kris, you know the guy I was talking to you about?”

Kris looked up, the confusion clearly visible all over his face. He briefly wondered if he was in the middle of an elaborate practical joke because why would Adam talk about him to his friends?

Danielle laughed. “I think you’re scaring him, Adam.” She waved at Kris. “Nice to finally meet you. He couldn’t stop talking about you, it’s true.”

Brad reached out to shake Kris’s hand right before he raised an eyebrow as he looked at Adam, obviously teasing. “So now maybe you can stop whining to us about him?”

Adam was blushing and wouldn’t meet Kris’s eyes, but he kept his hand lightly touching Kris’s arm even when he told Danielle and Brad, “go away, you two. I’ll talk to you later.”

After some more minutes of eyebrow wiggling and shameless teasing, Danielle and Brad left, leaving Kris and Adam to stand beside each other awkwardly. Adam had dropped his hand to his side, and Kris wanted to reach out and touch, already missing Adam’s warmth.

“So, yeah. Sorry but it’s out there anyway.” Adam rolled his eyes, took a deep breath and looked at Kris. “I kind of have a huge crush on you. And it’s OK if you’re not interested, I just think you’re pretty cool – I’ve seen you with your guitar and I’ve heard you talk to your friends, and you’re pretty funny. I just thought that maybe we could be friends and… yeah.”

“I think you’re pretty awesome, too.” Kris smiled as he looked into Adam’s wide eyes. He never realized how blue they were, and he found his breath catching in his throat.

Adam’s face glowed, his smile softening and making Kris’s heart feel like it was wrapped in a warm blanket. “Yeah?”

Kris nodded and reached out to brush the hair away from Adam’s face, his fingers lingering over the freckled skin, their eyes locked with each other.

The moment was broken when Adam slightly jumped and he turned abruptly towards the aquarium. “Oh look at that.”

Kris reluctantly turned away from Adam but when he saw what Adam was looking at, he let out a delighted laugh.

Albert and Bowie were floating very close to the glass, round watery eyes looking at them. Albert’s warm glow perfectly complemented Bowie’s stunning sparkle, but what made them a sight to behold was the way that their tails were twined together, as if they were born to be joined that way, perfect and mated for life.

“My boy got his guy,” Kris smirked, raising a thumb in approval at Albert who, in Kris’s opinion, was looking pretty smug.

Kris then reached out and grabbed Adam’s hand, lacing their fingers together. He pulled Adam close as he stood on his tiptoes before giving Adam a chaste kiss on the lips. They stood looking at each other, the revelation finally sinking in, until Kris leaned and rested his forehead over Adam’s before softly saying, “And I got mine.”


End file.
